70 Years Out: Bob Dylan

This week (May 24) Bob Dylan will celebrate his 70th birthday. Probably the most important figure in popular music, Dylan has built a body of work that is breathtaking in its scope. On top of that, it would be quite fair to say that when Dylan was at his peak in the 1960s his music helped change the world. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny his powerful influence on rock music. Thanks, Bob.

MP3: “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (live) by Bob Dylan & the Band

MP3: “Like A Rolling Stone” (live) by Jimi Hendrix

MP3: “Watching The River Flow” by Leon Russell

MP3: “One More Cup of Coffee” by Roger McGuinn & Calexico

MP3: “To Ramona” by the Flying Burrito Brothers

MP3: “Thunder On The Mountain” by Wanda Jackson

MP3: “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” by the Grateful Dead

MP3: “Girl From The North Country” by Johnny Cash & Joni Mitchell

MP3: “Si Tu Dois Partir” by Fairport Convention

MP3: “Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar” by Bob Dylan

MP3: “My Back Pages” by the Hollies

MP3: “Masters of War” by Pearl Jam

MP3: “If Not For You” by Olivia Newton John

MP3: “Come Una Pietra Scalciata (Like A Rolling Stone)” by Articolo 31

MP3: “Chimes Of Freedom” (live) by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

MP3: “Wicked Messenger” by the Faces

MP3: “Everything Is Broken” by R. L. Burnside

MP3: “This Wheel’s On Fire” by the Byrds

MP3: “Gotta Serve Somebody” by Mavis Staples

MP3: “Highway 61 Revisited” by Johnny Winter

MP3: “Tweeter and the Monkey Man” by the Traveling Wilburys

MP3: “The Times They Are A-Changin’ ” by the Beach Boys

MP3: “All Along The Watchtower” (live) by Neil Young

MP3:  “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” (live) by Bob Dylan (w/George Harrison, Leon Russell & Ringo Starr)

MP3:  “Forever Young” by Bob Dylan & the Band

“Watching The River Flow” by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and Ben Waters

Completing the Dream

This week we celebrate a moment of optimism and hope as welcome a new leader.  But first we take this opportunity to remember a giant who helped make this all possible.  Martin Luther King Jr. implored us to not be merely satisfied with installing people in places of power and hoping that they will make a change – he taught us that change must begin with each of us, in our own hearts. 

MP3: “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder

MP3: “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” (live) by U2

MP3: “Up To The Mountain” by Solomon Burke

MP3: “Abraham, Martin and John” by Dion

MP3: “Freedom Highway” (live) by Mavis Staples

MP3: “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke

MP3: “People Get Ready” by the Impressions

MP3: “The Times They Are A’ Changin’ ” by Bob Dylan

Review: “Hope At The Hideout,” Mavis Staples

Mavis Staples earned her battle scars on the front lines of America’s civil rights movement.  With the Staple Singers, she sang a soundtrack to the social upheaval of the era and with a husky voice that can handle anything from gospel to down-and-dirty blues, Mavis is an American treasure.  Her new album Live: Hope At The Hideout takes that 69-year-old voice through all the paces; recorded in Chicago with a three-piece band, the songs ring with history and passion.  This is an electrifying live set and in the wake of yesterday’s election, it powerfully reminds us that there is still much to be done in this country.  “We Shall Not Be Moved” has a story in the middle about encountering prejudice and “This Little Light” sinks its hooks right into your soft parts.  A raucous “Freedom Highway,”  a singalong “I’ll Take You There” and a version of Stephen Stills’ warhorse “For What It’s Worth” are also highlights.  Simply put, Live: Hope At The Hideout is a great album – Mavis rocks.

MP3: “This Little Light”

Mavis Staples official website

Church

A while back I had a freelance assignment to photograph George Foreman at his church in Houston.  As it was easier to get him after Sunday morning services, I settled in and absorbed a sermon from this fascinating figure.  Even though he opened a Bible and occasionally made reference to the Scripture, George talked about all sorts of things one wouldn’t normally consider church stuff.

“Don’t ever tell anyone how much money you make,” he said at one point.  “They can take advantage of you.”  Another time he said, “Always listen to your Momma.”  Very little talk of Jesus, and sin – and a lot of plain old good common sense. 

That’s what I get too, from the church of rock and roll.  When blues and rock artists turn their attention to the spiritual, it’s often more honest and illuminating than a month worth of Sundays in a church building.  And the work of the great black gospel artists is just as good.  Not only did they sincerely express their faith in an entertaining way, the earlier music contained elements of blues and R&B as well as the DNA of true rock and roll.  As George Foreman would say, “Just listen; the music of God is all around you.”

Amen, brother.  Let’s go to church.

MP3: “Didn’t It Rain” by the Blind Boys Of Alabama

MP3: “John The Revelator” by Son House

MP3: “I Talk To Jesus Every Day” by Johnny Cash

MP3: “Gotta Serve Somebody” by Mavis Staples

MP3: “Man Of God” by Neil Diamond

MP3: “Jesus Christ Is Still The King” by Billy Joe Shaver

MP3: “Dragnet For Jesus” by Sister Wynona Carr

MP3: “How Great Thou Art” by Elvis Presley

MP3: “Jesus Is Coming Soon” by the Dixie Hummingbirds

MP3: “Jesus Christ” by U2

MP3: “Farther Along” by the Byrds

MP3: “Southern Comfort” by Terry Allen